California: Meta has unveiled its latest virtual reality headset, the Quest 3S, through its Reality Labs division. Positioned as a more affordable option, the Quest 3S will be available for sale starting October 15, 2024, at a price of $299, significantly lower than the 499 dollars starting price of last year’s Quest 3.
At Meta's Connect event in Menlo Park, California, on Wednesday, the company emphasised that the Quest 3S is not just for gaming but a multitasking computer capable of running VR fitness apps, watching movies, and handling various tasks. This positions the device as a competitor to Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which was launched in February at a much higher price point of 3,499 dollars.
In addition to the Quest 3S, Meta showcased the latest prototype of its augmented-reality smart glasses and introduced several new features for its Meta AI chatbot. Despite its dominance in the VR headset market—thanks to the popularity of previous Quest devices—Meta has yet to spark a mainstream cultural shift or build a widely adopted software ecosystem around VR.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended the company’s 65 billion dollars investment into its hardware development, dating back to the 2014 acquisition of Oculus. He argued that these efforts are essential to prevent rivals like Apple from controlling future hardware platforms.
While there were hopes among VR developers that Apple's entry into the market would attract more users and apps, reports suggest Apple’s headset sales have been modest, with fewer than 1 million units sold, largely due to its high price.
Meta explained that the "S" in Quest 3S stands for "start," emphasising the device's role in introducing users to VR. Like Apple's Vision Pro, the Quest 3S includes a feature that simulates a movie theatre experience and another mode optimised for airplane use.
Meta also highlighted improvements to the headset's "passthrough" feature, which uses external cameras and sensors to display live video inside the headset, allowing users to interact with their real surroundings. A new dedicated button on the Quest 3S activates passthrough mode for easier access.
Zuckerberg emphasised the multitasking capabilities of the Quest 3S, showcasing the device's ability to run multiple apps simultaneously. In demonstrations, the headset was shown managing up to four floating app windows at once, including YouTube, Amazon Music, a browser, and Meta’s app store. Meta claims the Quest 3S can handle up to six windows, although the demo experienced some glitches, including an app crash and unresponsive controllers.
Alongside the Quest 3S, Meta announced a price cut for the Quest 3, reducing the cost of the 512GB model from 649 dollars to 499 dollars. The Quest 3 boasts more advanced lenses and a higher resolution screen than the Quest 3S.
Meta also revealed that it will discontinue the Quest Pro, which debuted in 2022 with a 999 dollars price tag, and the older Quest 2 headset, signalling a shift toward the new generation of VR devices.
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